Sizing help please...

[ShooterAZ]

I am casting some 38 TL 158 gr SWC boolits, they are measuring .359-.361 as cast. I tried loading a few as cast, but some (10% maybe) won't chamber. TC Contender slugs 357.3 My Lee push through sizer is sizing them down to .357 right on the money, which I am not too happy with.

Somewhere on this forum I read about enlarging the die, but now I can't find it!

Questions:

Do some of you guys mic each boolit?

Measure and cull for sizing?

How to ream out the die a little?

Thanks...Shooter

[btroj]

I enlarged a Lee push thru by wrapping some wet dry 400 grit paper around a dowel. Oil it pretty good and insert it thru the die. Roll the die up and down ypur thigh for a bit. Wear jeans you don't mind getting dirty, the oil will make a mess.
Go slow, stop, clean, and measure often. Best way to measure is take some bullets from the same lot. Push one thru and measure before you start lapping it out. After a bit of lapping use another bullet from the same bunch. See how much the diameter increased.

As you can see this is a trial and error method. It actually doesn't take very long. I went from .429 to .432 in well under 20 minutes total time.

[runfiverun]

i'd stop at about 358 and shoot some.
then give it a few more rolls if needed stop size and shoot some more.
yeah it takes a while, but you only gotta go through the process once.

[beagle]

I've had good results in a Contender with .358 bullets. RN and WCs shoot really well but for some reason, accuracy with a SWC design has eluded me in the Contender.

With the proper sizer, you lube and size 'em all and no miking of each one./beagle

[sisiphunter]

Great advice above.....as for culling. I mic a few just to make sure but thats what sizing is for in my books. Evens them all out to the same size anyways. As for culling my primary focus after obvious flaws like rounded edges. Big wrinkles. Etc is weighing them. I just use a cheap digital scale...depends on the boolit as to what weight range im happy with.....plinkers are within a grain generally. My 22 casts form my 223 weigh 53.1 - 53.5 gr and most are an even 53.3 gr.

I weight all of them that i cast. Doesnt take overly long and ive found my groups have got alot better since i started weighing even with the plinkers. It gets rid of any with internal flaws or voids you cant see.

[Boolseye]

Do some of you guys mic each boolit?

definitely not.

Measure and cull for sizing?
nope


How to ream out the die a little?
how bout springing for the .358 sizer die? That.357 could come in handy for 9mm, or a .38 with a tighter bore.

[Reload3006]

if it were me I would find the largest boolit I could get to easily chamber. Mike it. (measure) then buy a size die that size instead of culling them I would just push them all through that size die. If you are using tumble lube no worries glop in some lla or xlox or 45/45/10 do the happy boolit dance. Or do the same thing with a lubesizer there isnt enough time in a year to measure individually every boolit you make IMO.

[williamwaco]

I am casting some 38 TL 158 gr SWC boolits, they are measuring .359-.361 as cast. I tried loading a few as cast, but some (10% maybe) won't chamber. TC Contender slugs 357.3 My Lee push through sizer is sizing them down to .357 right on the money, which I am not too happy with.

Somewhere on this forum I read about enlarging the die, but now I can't find it!

Questions:

Do some of you guys mic each boolit?

Measure and cull for sizing?

How to ream out the die a little?

Thanks...Shooter

Your as cast sizes are completely normal.
10% not chambering when loaded as cast is also totally normal.

I tried the as cast method and found that if they will chamber they shoot fine. Over all, I find it much less troublesome overall to just size them all then tumble them. I no longer load anything as-cast.

My Thompson Contender slugs .3565. It shoots .357 or .358 bullets with equal accuracy. Of course those dies produce bullets that actually mike .3574 and .3585.




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